COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Perceiving Objects and

Recognizing Patterns
• The primary experience of a stimulus identified by a specific sensory
organ is called sensation. With this process, the information from the
external world reaches our brain.

• Perception is the set of processes by which we recognize, organize, and

make sense of the sensations we receive from environmental stimuli.
 Some Basic Concepts of Perception
• Distal stimulus- out in the real world are objects and events—things to
be perceived.
• Any physical object or event in the external world that reflects light.
This light or energy, called the proximal stimulus, is what excites the
receptors on our eyes, leading to visual perception.
• Proximal Stimulus- the reception of information and its registration
by a sense organ make up the proximal stimulus.
• The meaningful interpretation of the proximal stimulus is the
percept—your interpretation that the stimuli are trees, cars, people,
and so forth.
• The preceding examples show that sometimes we cannot perceive
what does exist. At other times, however, we perceive things that do
not exist.
• Related to perception is a process
called pattern recognition. This is the
recognition of a particular object,
event, and so on, as belonging to a
class of objects, events, and so on.
Approaches to Perception: How Do We
Make
Sense of What We See?

There are different views on how we perceive the world. These views
can be summarized as bottom-up theories and top-down
theories.
 Bottom-Up Theories
• Describe approaches where perception
starts with the stimuli whose appearance
you take in through your eye. You look out
onto the cityscape, and perception
happens when the light information is
transported to your brain. Therefore, they
are data driven (i.e., stimulus-driven)
theories.
The four main bottom-up theories of form and pattern
perception are:

• Direct perception
• Template theories
• Feature theories
• Recognition-by-component
 Gibson’s Theory of Direct Perception

• According to Gibson’s theory of direct perception, the information in our

sensory receptors, including the sensory context, is all we need to
perceive anything. As the environment supplies us with all the
information we need for perception, this view is sometimes also called
ecological perception. In other words, we do not need higher cognitive
processes or anything else to mediate between our sensory experiences
and our perceptions. Existing beliefs or higher-level inferential thought
processes are not necessary for perception.
 Template Theories
• Template theories suggest that we have stored in our minds myriad sets of templates.
Templates are highly detailed models for patterns we potentially might recognize. We
recognize a pattern by comparing it with our set of templates. We then choose the
exact template that perfectly matches what we observe. We see examples of template
matching in our everyday lives. Fingerprints are matched in this way. Chess players who
have knowledge of many games use a matching strategy in line with template theory to
recall previous games (Gobet & Jackson, 2002). Template matching theories belong to
the group of chunk-based theories that suggest that expertise is attained by acquiring
chunks of knowledge in long-term memory that can later be accessed for fast
recognition.
 Feature-Matching Theories
• According to these theories, we attempt to match features of a pattern to
features stored in memory, rather than to match a whole pattern to a
template or a prototype.
• The Pandemonium Model -One such feature-matching model has been
called Pandemonium (“pandemonium” refers to a very noisy, chaotic
place and hell). In it, metaphorical “demons” with specific duties receive
and analyze the features of stimulus. In Oliver Selfridge’s Pandemonium
Model, there are four kinds of demons: image demons, feature demons,
cognitive demons, and decision demons.
• The “image demons” receive a retinal image and pass
it on to “feature demons.” Each feature demon calls
out when there are matches between the stimulus
and the given feature. These matches are yelled out at
demons at the next level of the hierarchy, the
“cognitive (thinking) demons.” The cognitive demons
in turn shout out possible patterns stored in memory
that conform to one or more of the features noticed
by the feature demons. A “decision demon” listens to
the pandemonium of the cognitive demons. It decides
on what has been seen, based on which cognitive
demon is shouting the most frequently (i.e., which has
the most matching features).
 Recognition-by-Components Theory
• The recognition by-components theory explains our ability to perceive 3-D objects with
the help of simple geometric shapes.
• Seeing with the Help of Geons suggested that we achieve this by manipulating a
number of simple 3-D geometric shapes called geons (for geometrical ions). They
include objects such as bricks, cylinders, wedges, cones, and their curved axis
counterparts (Biederman, 1990/1993b). According to Biederman’s
recognition-by-components (RBC) theory, we quickly recognize objects by observing the
edges of them and then decomposing the objects into geons. The geons also can be
recomposed into alternative arrangements.
• Biederman’s RBC theory explains how we may recognize general
instances of chairs, lamps, and faces, but it does not adequately
explain how we recognize particular chairs or particular faces. An
example would be your own face or your best friend’s face. They are
both made up of geons that constitute your mouth, eyes, nose,
eyebrows, and so forth. But these geons are the same for both your
and your friend’s faces. So RBC theory cannot explain how we can
distinguish one face from the next.
 Top-Down Theories
• In contrast to the bottom-up approach to perception is the
top-down, constructive approach. In constructive perception,
the perceiver builds (constructs) a cognitive understanding
(perception) of a stimulus. The concepts of the perceiver and
his or her cognitive processes influence what he or she sees.
The perceiver uses sensory information as the foundation for
the structure but also uses other sources of information to
build the perception. This viewpoint also is known as
intelligent perception because it states that higher-order
thinking plays an important role in perception. It also
emphasizes the role of learning in perception (Fahle, 2003)
Perception of Objects and Forms
(Viewer-Centered vs. Object-Centered
Perception)
• Viewer-centered representation, is that the individual stores the way
the object looks to him or her. Thus, what matters is the appearance of
the object to the viewer (in this case, the appearance of the computer
to the author), not the actual structure of the object. The shape of the
object changes, depending on the angle from which we look at it. A
number of views of the object are stored, and when we try to
recognize an object, we have to rotate that object in our mind until it
fits one of the stored images.
• The second position, object-centered representation, is that the
individual stores a representation of the object, independent of its
appearance to the viewer. In this case, the shape of the object will
stay stable across different orientations. This stability can be
achieved by means of establishing the major and minor axes of the
object, which then serve as a basis for defining further properties of
the object.
 GESTALT APPROACHES TO
PERCEPTION

• One of the most important aspects of visual

perception has to do with how we interpret
stimulus arrays as consisting of objects and
backgrounds.
• This stimulus pattern can be seen in two distinct ways: as a white vase
against a black background or as two silhouetted faces against a white
background. This segregation of the whole display into objects (also
called the figure) and the background (also called the ground) is an
important process known to cognitive psychologists as form perception.
• The Gestalt psychologists believed that perceivers follow certain laws or
principles of organization in coming to their interpretations. They first
asserted that the whole, or Gestalt, is not the same as the sum of its
parts.
• To put it another way, Gestalt psychologists rejected the claim that we
recognize objects by identifying individual features or parts; instead, we
see and recognize each object or unit as a whole.
Gestalt principles of perceptual
organization that allow us to see these
wholes? The complete list is too long to
describe (Koffka, 1935), so we will examine
only five major principles.

• Principle of proximity, or nearness.

Following the principle of proximity, we
group together things that are nearer to
each other.
• Principle of similarity, states that similar things
tend to appear grouped together.
• Notice that you perceive this display as formed
in columns (rather than rows), grouping
together those elements that are similar
• Principle of good continuation, holds that points that are connected
by straight or curving lines are seen in a way that follows the
smoothest path.
 Two Different Pattern Recognition
Systems
• The first system specializes in recognition of parts of objects and in
assembling those parts into distinctive wholes (feature analysis
system). For example, when you are in a biology class and notice the
elements of a tulip—the stamen, the pistil, and so forth—you look at
the flower through this first system.
• The second system (configurational system) specializes in recognizing
larger configurations. It is not well equipped to analyze parts of objects
or the construction of the objects. But it is especially well equipped to
recognize configurations. For example, if you look at a tulip in a garden
and admire its distinctive beauty and form, you look at the flower
through the second system.
 Deficits in Perception
• Agnosias - is the loss of the ability to
recognize objects, faces, voices, or places. It’s
a rare disorder involving one (or more) of the
senses. Agnosia usually affects only a single
information pathway in the brain. If you have
this condition you can still think, speak, and
interact with the world.
 Types of Agnosia
• Disturbance in the temporal region of the
cortex can lead to simultagnosia. In
simultagnosia, an individual is unable to pay
attention to more than one object at a time. A
person with simultagnosia would not see each
of the objects depicted in Figure 3.28
• Prosopagnosia results in a severely impaired ability to
recognize human faces. A person with prosopagnosia
might not recognize her or his own face in the mirror.
This fascinating disorder has spawned much research on
face identification, a “hot topic” in visual perception. The
functioning of the right-hemisphere fusi form gyrus is
strongly implicated in prosopagnosia. In particular, the
disorder is associated with damage to the right temporal
lobe of the brain. Prosopagnosia, in particular, and
agnosia, in general, are obstacles that persist over time.
• Ataxia is when you have a problem with
coordination, causing you to move in an
uncertain, awkward or even clumsy way. It’s
usually a sign of a problem with an area of your
brain, ears or other parts of your nervous system.
• People with ataxia can improve their movements
toward a visible aim when they hold off with their
movements for a few seconds. Immediate
movements are executed through dorsal-stream
processing, while delayed movements make use
of the ventral system, comprising the
occipito-temporal and temporo-parietal areas.
• Optic ataxia, which is an impairment in the ability to use the visual system
to guide movement. People with this deficit have trouble reaching for
things. All of us have had the experience of coming home at night and
trying to find the keyhole in the front door. It’s too dark to see, and we
have to grope with our key for the keyhole, often taking quite a while to
find it. Someone with optic ataxia has this problem even with a fully lit
visual field. The “how” pathway is impaired.
Thank you Listening ☺

Prepared by:
Magdalena “Maddie” Zulueta-Ibanez
College of Arts and Sciences- Psychology Lecturer
Masters of Arts in Industrial Psychology